Winter sports postseason schedules set in place

It may feel like the winter scholastic sports season has just begun. Nevertheless, its postseason is upon us.

The postseason stage of the wrestling season commences this weekend, followed by swimming a week later while the structure of the District 1 basketball playoffs fully came to light last week.

The delayed season due to the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent fallout has forced significant changes on the postseason picture.

Here is a sport-by-sport look at the winter sports’ postseason for Mercury-Area teams and the rest of District 1:

Wrestling

The road to the PIAA Wrestling Championships has always been daunting. It’s even longer and more difficult this season.

With the state tournament being limited to eight wrestlers per weight in each of Class 2A and Class 3A, just earning a spot in Hershey will be much harder with an additional tournament to navigate. The field was trimmed from 20 to eight to allow the tournament to be completed in one day due to COVID-19 concerns.

The road to Hershey begins Saturday with District 1 Class 3A North and South sectional tournaments, at Quakertown and Sun Valley, respectively.

Pioneer Athletic Conference schools will be split up in sectionals with Boyertown, Owen J. Roberts and Spring-Ford joining the Del Val, Central and Ches-Mont schools in the south tournament while Methacton, Perkiomen Valley, Phoenixville, Pottsgrove, Pottstown, Upper Merion and Upper Perkiomen will be grouped with the Suburban One League and the Central’s Lower Merion in the north.

Each weight class will accept eight qualifiers, which will be determined by the wrestling steering committee. The fields will be set Wednesday, Feb. 17.

The rest of the postseason schedule features the South East AAA regional tournament on Saturday, Feb. 27 at a site to be determined (past host Oxford is unable to host). The East 3A Super Regional – the additional stage this year – will be on Saturday, March 6, at Quakertown High School. Districts 1, 2, 11 and 12 comprise the East super regional.

The PIAA 3A Championships will be held a week later on March 13 at Giant Center in Hershey.

The location of Saturday’s District 1/12 Class 2A tournament is still to be determined. The 2A postseason road continues on Feb. 27 with the South East 2A Regional at Central Dauphin East; on March 6 with the East 2A Super Regional at Pottsville; and Friday, March 12 for the PIAA Championships in Hershey.

Basketball

The basketball postseason will follow the same format used in team sports in the fall with only district champions advancing to the PIAA tournament. It’s a drastic change for District 1, especially in Class 6A where 11 girls and 10 boys teams advanced last year.

The single-elimination postseason will begin on March 6 or later. Fields will be set on March 3. The modified District 1 tournament will feature 20 qualifiers in Class 6A and 10 in 5A. In 4A, two boys and four girls teams will qualify.

The boys and girls District 1 champions will begin at various round of their respective PIAA tournaments. PIAA Class 4A-6A championship games will take place March 25-27 at Giant Center in Hershey.

Boys Class 6A >> 20 qualifiers. Dates: first round, March 6; second round, March 9; quarterfinals, March 12; semifinals, March 16; championship March 19. The District 1 winner advances to the PIAA semifinals on March 23 against the District 11 or 12 champion with the championship taking place March 27.

Boys Class 5A >> 10 qualifiers. Dates: first round, March 6; quarterfinals, March 9, semifinals, March 12; championship March 16. The District 1 champion faces the District 2 champion in the PIAA quarterfinals March 19 followed by the semifinals March 22 and championship March 26.

Boys Class 4A >> Two qualifiers. Date: championship, March 10. The District 1 champion faces the District 11 champion in the PIAA first round March 16, followed by the quarterfinals March 19, semifinals March 22 and championship March 25.

Girls Class 6A >> 20 qualifiers. Dates: first round, March 6; second round, March 10; quarterfinals, March 13; semifinals, March 17; championship March 19. The District 1 winner advances to the PIAA semifinals on March 23 against the District 11 or 12 champion with the championship taking place March 26.

Girls Class 5A >> 10 qualifiers. Dates: first round, March 6; quarterfinals, March 10, semifinals, March 13; championship March 17. The District 1 champion faces the District 2 champion in the PIAA quarterfinals March 20 followed by the semifinals March 23 and championship March 27.

Girls Class 4A >> Four qualifiers. Dates: semifinals, March 9; championship, March 12. The District 1 champion faces the District 11 champion in the PIAA first round March 17, followed by the quarterfinals March 20, semifinals March 23 and championship March 27.

Swimming

The District 1 Championships will be held outside the district, at Graham Aquatic Center in York, on Feb. 26 and 27.

The event traditionally held at La Salle University was forced outside the region due to the lack of possible host venues because of current state occupancy limits. No spectators will be permitted.

The girls’ meet is set for Friday, Feb. 26 with Class 2A beginning at 9:15 a.m. while the two-session, single-day 3A meet will begin at 2:40 p.m.

The boys’ meet follows the same setup on Saturday, Feb. 26.

Restrictions on the field size will heavily limit the number of qualifiers. In Class 2A, the top 8 individual qualifiers and top 6 relay teams from times submitted will be invited to the meet. In Class 3A, the top 16 individuals per event and top 12 relays will be accepted.

The PIAA Championships will held at Cumberland Valley High School on March 19 and 20. Traditional host Bucknell University could not hold the event due to occupancy limits.

The Diving Championships will be held Feb. 19 (boys) and 20 (girls) at North Penn High School.